Debbie Folaron discusses the role of language and translation in endangered Aboriginal communities (Cree, Naskapi, Innu) with Julie Brittain and Marguerite MacKenzie

Abstract

According to the 2011 Census of Population conducted and published by Statistics Canada, there are over 60 Aboriginal languages grouped into 12 distinct language families in Canada. Approximately 213,500 people reported an Aboriginal mother tongue and nearly 213,400 people reported speaking an Aboriginal language most often or regularly at home. The Aboriginal language family with the largest number of people was Algonquian, and the ones most often reported were Cree languages, Ojibway, Innu/Montagnais and Oji-Cree. Three Aboriginal languages - the Cree languages, Inuktitut and Ojibway- accounted for almost two-thirds of the population having an Aboriginal language as mother tongue. These facts are examined in preliminary notes preceding an interview, in which Julie Brittain and Marguerite MacKenzie discuss the roles of language and translation in the Cree, Naskapi, and Innu communities with whom they work.